Tomato, pepper and cucumber are grown in greenhouses in Adiyaman, a city located in the southeastern part of Turkey. As these products are grown throughout the entire year, it is attractive for wholesalers and contributes significantly to the local economy.
Now another dimension will be added to the greenhouse production with the signed agreement between Adiyaman Food, Agriculture and Livestock City Directorate and Turkey Petroleum company (TPAO). According to the agreement, hot water obtained from petroleum wells will be utilized in greenhouses.
Now another dimension will be added to the greenhouse production with the signed agreement between Adiyaman Food, Agriculture and Livestock City Directorate and Turkey Petroleum company (TPAO). According to the agreement, hot water obtained from petroleum wells will be utilized in greenhouses.
With heat exchanger systems built in greenhouses, hot water from petroleum wells are used in heating the greenhouses. The plates in the heat exchanger system are heated with this hot water which heats the water that is used in the irrigation in the greenhouses. The goal is to lower the heating costs of the greenhouses and to grow more cost efficient products. This system is right now used in an area of 450,000 square feet and will be expanded in the future to 2.1 million square feet.
Zeki Kose, a local grower: “We have products available 8 months of the year. In every June and July, we clean up the greenhouses and prepare for the new season. We plant at the beginning of September and start harvesting products mid-October until the end of June. On average, we have 8 months of products, 2 months of cleaning and 2 months of growing period. This way we are occupied in our greenhouses throughout the whole year. Our greenhouses are also soilless thus it puts us in a better marketing position.
The bees we are keeping in greenhouses are also contributing to the production. As there is no wind within the greenhouse, the pollen from stamens do not transfer however bees do this transfer through pollination. We also use coconut shells instead of soil in the greenhouse. It is a completely natural element. All our products are grown organically and we do not use any chemicals. Normally when tomatoes are grown in soil, you have wild vegetation which produces insects and growers are forced to use insecticide. However in soilless production, we do not have this problem.
The hot water we use from petroleum wells contribute us around 25,000 USD annually in lowering the costs. Thus we do not have to use any fuel for heating the greenhouses. This helps our margins as our products cost less to grow. Additionally we use modern technology in managing the greenhouse. Through programming equipment, we use a pole outside the greenhouse to measure the temperature, the wind and humidity. Then these measurements are used to establish the balance inside and outside of the greenhouse. It is an automatic system which manages humidity and irrigation according to these measurements.”
Source: Ilkha